Fin Dovah Junaar
by DaNinja101
Summary: What if the UNSC was created by the people of Skyrim? What if the Mass Effect races and the Covenant were old enemies? And what would happen when these factions collide with one another? Skyrim in space with spartans, against the covenant with the Citadel as allies? Who knows?
1. Prologue

Fin Dovah Junaar

Prologue

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and my OCs. For now…**

4E 201 The Dragonborn, Gavrilus Arepelus defeats Alduin the-world-eater and unites Skyrim. The Empire, weakened by the secession of Skyrim, collapses and is assimilated by the Thalmor with the intention to "cleanse" Tamriel of non-mer. Skyrim becomes the last independent nation on Tamriel.

4E 207 the newly crowned empress of the Thalmor Empire, Elenwen the Radiant, sets her sights on the Kingdom of Skyrim. Ulfric Stormcloak is assassinated and Gavrilus Arepelus is crowned High King. The Thalmor invasion of Skyrim begins.

4E 209 the Thalmor's atrocities are revealed to the wider world. The Thalmor face disapproval even among the elves. Some begin to plot rebellion against the Thalmor occupiers.

4E 210 the war drags on and the Thalmor have reached no further than Whiterun in their invasion. The lesser races begin to rebel against their treatment. Skyrim manages to push Thalmor troops back to Cyrodiil. The races of man enter open rebellion and retake Hammerfall and High rock. The free nations retake the Imperial City and unite to form the New Empire.

4E 212 the Thalmor Empire is in total collapse as the subjugated races defect and join the growing New Empire. Thalmor forces fall back to the Summerset Isles. The New Empire, now encompassing all of Tamriel, launches a massive invasion of the Summerset Isles with the Emperor, Gavrilus, at the forefront.

4E 214 The Capital is the last stronghold of the Thalmor as even the elves join the New Empire in revolt against the Empress. The death toll of the war numbers in the hundreds of millions, a large portion of the contemporary population. During the fall of the Thalmor Empire, New Imperial troops discover a strange object covered in writing among the ruins of the Capital. This was taken back to Cyrodiil where it was dubbed "the Artefact."

4E 246 The emperor, Gavrilus Arepelus, dies and passes power over to his son, who becomes the first of the Dovah Jun, the dragon emperors.

4E 302 The Giants join the races of the Empire.

5E 1 Imperial settlers arrive on Akavir only to find the dragons, having been defeated by the Dragonborn, had retreated there. Shortly afterwards, the native races vanished and were never seen again. The Dragons were accepted into the New Empire. The New Empire is renamed the Nirnian Empire

5E 87 The Falmer are integrated into the Empire after being partially restored to their original state.

5E 207 the College of Mages in Winterhold, after examining the artefact, manage to partially decode the writing on it. Just that fraction advanced Nirnian science hundreds of years and gave rise to great advances.

6E 1 the first explorations of Aetherius take place. Nirnian expansion into the stars begins…

6E 101 The Plane Drive is created. It serves as a device to transport ships into Meridia's Realm where ships can travel faster than light and beyond.

6E 179 the first extrasolar colony is founded on the world of Kynareth's

6E 456/12 000BC Eighty-Eight thousand years after the Halo arrays were fired, the Nirnian Empire became the first civilisation to reach Tier 3.

And that's the prologue! Sorry if it went on forever, I tried to edit out the irrelevant stuff as much as possible! Just so you know, this story is technically a triple crossover with Mass Effect, Halo and Skyrim being the games involved. Thanks for reading and if you've got a review, please post it! This is my first fic so no flames please! (But feel free to review)

Thanx

DaNinja101


	2. Chapter 1

Fin Dovah Junaar

Chapter 1: First Contact

 **Disclaimer: Do you really think I own anything here?**

 **Location: Shanxi Colony, Citadel Space**

 **Date: February 2** **nd** **2525**

"Sir, contacts ahead!" yelled the ensign. "Covenant?" questioned Captain Varen Severus, "No sir, unknown!" replied the ensign as he frantically checked the monitor. Varen looked out the view port on the bridge and saw a large, golden ship emerge through an aurora-like burst of light. "This is first contact people! Action stations!" He yelled as he rushed to the comms station.

A burst of static greeted him before clearing into an image. It showed an alien that looked somewhat like an Asari with hair might. It, or He, Varen assumed judging by the stockiness of its body, began to speak **"Drem yol lok, zu'u Kinbok Jacob Keyes. Zu'u bo ko drem wa hin lein."**

"What is he saying?" Varen asked, not really expecting an answer. To his shock, what like holographic Asari with hair materialised next to the alien. "He's saying. 'Greetings, I am Captain Jacob Keyes. I come in peace to your worlds' just so you know." Said the hologram in perfect Turian. She seemed to be smirking at his slack-jawed expression.

Varen tried to get over his shock. _An AI? How?_ He thought furiously to himself. _Don't they know how dangerous they are!?_ Attempting to maintain a calm face, he replied "I am Captain Varen Severus, Captain of the _TSF Fides_. We are the protectors of Citadel space. What brings you to our worlds?" The alien broke into what he assumed was a smile and said something to the AI. The AI turned to look at him, "Why don't you come aboard and we can talk all about it." The AI said…

By the time Varen was heading back to his ship, he couldn't believe how long and complex just the first negotiations had been. The sheer volume of their culture, history and science had awed him. The fact that they had been spacefaring before most species had even thought of it was something he found intimidating. Despite his reputation as one of the worst diplomats in the fleet, he had managed to get things off to a decent start, or so he thought. The irony that the captain who had nearly caused several diplomatic incidents and had been sent off to a backwater world to prevent that happening, had been the one to make first contact with an alien empire, was not lost on him.

The meeting had ended with the agreement that the Nirnian Empire would provide a diplomat to be taken to the Citadel and so he was travelling back to his ship with a Breton named Jandette. He still couldn't quite tell the difference between some of the different races. Most of them looked the same with a few superficial differences and then to make it even more confusing, some had pointed ears and some didn't. He did notice that some of the visually similar races showed very different behaviour.

He did notice the ones called "Nords" were quite warlike, he would have to introduce Arus to them sometime- "So what exactly is this Citadel place we're going to?" The Breton's voice interrupted his musings. "Well, the Citadel is a large space station that serves as the seat of government for known space, with the exception of the Covenant." He replied. "The Covenant, what's that?" She asked innocently. "The Covenant is huge, theological empire that seeks to convert or destroy other races. We've been fighting them for years. The only thing stopping them destroying us entirely is the fact we never send all our forces to a battle and that they don't know the location of most of our worlds." Jandette suppressed a shudder as she heard this. She hoped she would never meet them…

 **Location: Council Chambers, Citadel Station**

 **Date: February 3** **rd** **2525**

"What!" the councillors shouted in shock. Discovering a huge, powerful alien empire will do that to you. That and the fact it was your least favourite captain who was responsible.

"And how many races did you say there were?" Asked the Salarian councillor disbelievingly. "Fifteen, they told me." Varen replied calmly. "That can't be right, that would almost double the known number of races. Where are their homeworlds then, if there are so many?" He asked sceptically. "They told me they had all evolved on a single world called Nirn." He replied.

This of course set of a new round of arguments as the councillors erupted into cries of shock and disbelief. Varen sighed to himself before saying "If you want to know all this so badly, I suggest you speak with the ambassador they sent with me." The councillors stopped speaking and looked at him. "Very well bring the ambassador to us then.''

Varen silently apologised to Jandette before stepping outside the chamber and saying, "It's your turn now. Good luck."

Jandette stepped nervously into the council chamber, taking in her surroundings. The spacious chambers, richly decorated with scenes from the council's past, seemed designed to intimidate visiting diplomats. It wasn't such a bad idea, she mused, to be able to display your own glory over whomever you may want to impress.

Her attention was drawn back to reality as she looked towards the councillors sitting before her. They immediately started firing questions at her. "What are your empire's intentions? Do you recognise the Citadel Council's authority? Is it true that your races came from a single homeworld? How many ships do you have? Do you have AI technology?"

Varen winced at the number of questions, regretting sending her in there. He steeled himself to go rescue her. It was clear she was out of her element- "Well are you quite finished?" She asked, crossing her arms and glaring. "My apologies, it appears I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the interrogation room." She levelled her gaze towards the astounded Council "Could any of you gentlemen possibly direct me to the Council chambers?"

An awkward silence followed. The council members shifted uncomfortably before one spoke up. "These are the council chambers." She smiled. "I see, then I suppose it wouldn't be too much trouble for one of you fine gentlemen to summon the council so that we may get on with the process of diplomacy?"

Varen was struggling to contain his laughter at the councillor's expressions. It looked as though they had just swallowed a thresher maw. Even the guards at the door seemed to be stifling grins.

"We are the Council." The same councillor said. "My apologies noble councillors." Janette said, the gleam in her eyes revealing she had known all along. Varen nearly laughed outright at the look in her eyes but just managed to contain himself.

"Had I known I would have reacted differently." It was clear she wouldn't have but no one bothered to point that out. They were either too busy trying not laugh at the councillors' reactions or reacting in a way that made everyone else want laugh.

"Well then, I suppose we shall have to get on with the business of diplomacy." She said leaning forward with a grin…

 **Location: Harvest Colony, Nirnian Space**

 **Date: February 3** **rd** **2525**

"Fleet master! We have new contacts!" Announced an elite aboard the covenant ship, _Ascendant Justice._ Shipmaster Vul'Drumee gnashed his mandibles together as the ship and the small fleet behind it exited from the relay. "Shipmaster! The Luminary is detecting thousands of Reclamation glyphs as well as strange ones. They seem to translate into 'Guardian' glyphs." Another elite called out.

Vul'Drumee growled out "The scouts did not lie then, this is a new empire's world" Just then the holodeck flickered and came to life displaying another elite, this one named Kyhra Vulree. He wore the armour of a Sangheili Field Marshal and served as the commander of the ground troops attached to the fleet.

He just so happened to loathe Vul'Drumee, partly because he was jealous and partly because he was always disagreeing with him. Annoyingly enough the prophets had decided to elect him their representative on this mission, so he had authority over everyone in the fleet, even the Fleet Master.

Kyhra immediately started speaking, "We must strike before the inhabitants can respond and obtain the artefacts as well as some of these 'Guardian' glyphs for study. My zealots will move in immediately and prepare the landing zones for the troops to arrive."

Vul'Drumee just stood there in shock for a moment before responding, "Are you a fool? We can't just charge in and attack them! They could be vastly superior to us in technology. We shouldn't attack until we know more about them."

Kyhra just growled, "I am the voice of the prophets. You are to obey me and I order the invasion. Besides the sensors aren't detecting any eezo. _(A/N the Covenant uses eezo drives like the other ME races but have a much faster design)_ This must be their homeworld then, as it's impossible to use FTL without eezo-""Yes! I'm aware of what eezo is for! What's your point?" Vul'Drumee exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Khyra's grin grew larger. "Therefore it's impossible for them to counterattack our fleet effectively and no way to attack our colonies even if they did have ships that could beat ours. We can't lose." He finished simply.

"I don't like it." Vul muttered irritably. "But I'll give the order."

"Sir, we have unknown contacts! A whole fleet of them!" A bridge officer yelled out. Captain Uriel Akenfaer looked to his CIC viewscreen. He supressed a groan. A week ago he could have happily taken this fleet on, the ships of 5th fleet fighting alongside him. Now, however, he was in command of an ONI research ship with minimal armament and no shields rather than a top-of-the-line United Nirnian Systems Command light cruiser with enough weapons to put a hole in a small moon. Even a frigate would be welcome here.

Instead he was the only UNSC ship within range. Against a whole Oblivion-damned _fleet_! The main viewscreen flickered before displaying a large alien with a strange set of mandibles instead of a mouth.

"You are an affront to the Gods! Your world must be cleansed and your artefacts retrieved for the Great Journey!" The alien growled out, low and menacing.

Uriel's head was racing. _Another genocidal theology! This is Thalmor all over again!_ The Second Great War had claimed the lives of nearly a third of the people alive then and still was the second most devastating war ever fought by Nirnians among one another, Daedric invasions notwithstanding and then in the age of spaceflight the Thalmor movement had been reborn on many colonies causing a colossal war among Nirnians. Billions had died and worlds were still uninhabitable because of it. That had been the most devastating war…

He wouldn't give this world to these aliens without dying first…

"Then you will burn with your gods in the fires of Oblivion, Sithis take you!" He growled out in an even more menacing tone. He abruptly shut down the viewscreen before yelling out, "Send a drone to Nirn with a warning! Then prime all weapons! I want all fire concentrated on the troop ships!" Surmising that the large, lightly armed ships must be transports. He was going to die, that was certain, but he would buy Harvest as much time as he could before that…

Vul'Drumee watched as the alien turned white, then red on the viewscreen, before replying in a blood chilling voice, "Then you will burn with your gods in the fires of Oblivion, Sithis take you!" The viewscreen then turned black. He stood there for a moment trying to understand why the alien had displayed such vehemence at his mention of the Gods.

He was interrupted by his thoughts by the yell of a bridge officer, "Shipmaster, they are firing on us!" The volley of rounds impacted, followed by a strange fiery mass resembling a plasma torpedo. The rounds could be seen hitting the shields of the transports and, in some cases, breaking through them destroying the transport itself.

 _The_ _Eternal Faith_ , a CCS battlecruiser manoeuvred in front of the transports to protect them with it superior shields. Vul could only watch in horror as the fiery mass impacted _The Eternal Faith_ , passing straight through it shields and cutting through the ship like a hot knife through butter. _The Eternal Faith_ broke apart, shattering into pieces, much like Vul's confidence.

He was sure they could overwhelm the ship with plasma fire, as this race couldn't be advanced enough to create shields. They only had one military ship! It had to be an experimental ship, one they would crush before teaching this race not to attack empires older and more advanced than themselves…

Uriel looked to his diagnostics screen, the firing of the magicka anti-ship cannons (MAC) ceasing as they reloaded their rounds. The HAVOK-armed tactical flames torpedo had destroyed a large enemy ship but they had none left. It had been an experimental weapon from ONI, the one they had been here to test in the first place. (That and to discover what the alien artefact floating in space was. Now he'd managed to test both and get some combat experience. And they said he wasn't efficient…)

The techs back at the lab would be pleased to know they had created yet another weapon capable of making targets look like wet paper bags.

Of all the colonies to pick, they just had to choose one so new there weren't even UNSC forces stationed there yet…

"Enemy firing, Sir!" He closed his eyes and tried to make peace with himself. He managed to do so as the plasma torpedoes tore into his ship, wiping it out of existence.

Voda'Tramee laughed to himself, this was too easy. There weren't even any soldiers! Most people seemed to have some strange kind of biotics but for the most part he didn't even have to try. He had been on the planet for eighteen hours now as part of the second wave and the world was almost theirs. These aliens seemed to have no grasp of martial skill. They didn't even have an army on their homeworld!

Such incompetence practically deserved to be punished and he was only too happy to do so.

All too soon however, he was recalled to the dropships, the planet's inhabitants dead, with the zealot teams searching the ruins for the artefacts the luminary had discovered.

The Covenant had conquered this world…

That's the first chapter down! I'm going to try get the next one out within the next week or two. Feel free to review, everyone who does gets a cookie (sadly no, but still review!)

DaNinja101


	3. Chapter 2

Fin Dovah Junaar

Chapter 2: Of Burning Worlds

 **Disclaimer: If I owned anything here, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it. Would I?**

 **Location: Harvest Colony, Former Nirnian Space**

 **Date: February 4** **th** **2525**

Tra'Vumee was currently cursing the owners of this desolate world. He'd been part of the zealot teams deployed onto the planet after the invasion to search for the artefacts the Luminary had detected. Now, however, it seemed those accursed aliens had hidden them or taken them off-world.

The discovery that there was more than one race inhabiting this planet had come as a huge shock to the Covenant forces. This meant they had just attacked and devastated, not the world of a small fledgling race unable to fight back, but an interstellar, technologically advanced coalition of races. This revelation had brought shock and some small degree of fear with it.

They were now at war with a race whose technology was so alien to them that they stood no chance of understanding, at least at this point. How had those strange biotics managed to conjure fire, ice and electricity with just their bare hands? It was beyond what Covenant biotics could do, although those strange biotics hadn't displayed any abilities like regular biotics which could even the playing field a bit- "Sir, come look at this!"

Growling at having his musing interrupted, Tra stalked over to where the Elite that called him was standing. They were currently exploring the wreckage of a crashed freighter in the hope it had been carrying an artefact. Instead he found himself looking at relatively intact-looking computer.

"What is the meaning of this? This is not an artefact! Why would you have me come over here if there is nothing of worth?" He queried, angry at being distracted. "No sir, but it is an almost intact navigation computer, from what I can tell. We could discover the locations of their colonies!" "All of them?" He asked sceptically. "From what I can tell, they only have local coordinates on this. But we can at least discern the locations of nearby colonies."

"I see. Then we must alert the fleetmaster!"

 **Location: Council Chambers, Citadel Station**

 **Date: February 4** **th** **2525**

"How can these reports be accurate? There must be a mistake!" "My STG teams don't make mistakes." Replied councillor Valern. "But in all the years we've been fighting the Covenant they've never withdrawn ships from the front lines!" "And in all the years we've been fighting the Covenant the STG has never been wrong!" "Councillors! Calm yourselves!" Pleaded councillor Tevos, wading between the two councillors and separating them. "There must be a reasonable explanation for this! Covenant ships don't just disappear en masse. Where could they be going?" They mused for a moment before Valern's omnitool blinked. "It appears we've gained some new intel. They seem to be concentrating their forces towards a small cluster of stars. The worrying thing is this seems to be in the same local region as this new empire we've made contact with. They surely won't be able to go toe-to-toe with the Covenant"

"Speaking of this new empire, it appears the diplomatic party they sent has arrived" After the initial talks it had been agreed to postpone them until a larger diplomatic party with more specialized representatives could arrive. Emissary Jandette had been promoted to permanent ambassador to the Citadel.

As the party came aboard Tevos noticed that the diplomats had stressed or worried air around them. Almost as if they were afraid but with a slight eagerness in a combination that she already recognized as a very Nirnian characteristic. To be afraid yet eager for a challenge. She couldn't understand it but she could respect it. A tall, thin high elf stepped forward.

"I am ambassador Turios of the Nirnian Empire. This meeting is now in session." Tevos noticed he was far more formal and cold than the rather fiery Jandette. The shock she had felt when she first dared to speak to them like that, the Citadel council, had been enormous but had gradually translated into respect at her guts and bravery. The realisation that she hadn't been showing disrespect but rather establishing that she was in the position of an equal and should be treated as such, had helped too.

With that in mind, she stepped forwards to address the gathered diplomats. "Welcome to the Citadel I believe we have only a few things to discuss in this meeting, this is just to establish a rough knowledge base of one another, the rest will be done on a later occasion." She motioned to Sparatus, who read out the agenda albeit a bit grudgingly. She would have to speak with him later about presenting a unified front. "And so this meeting begins. I present councillor Tevos." Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward.

"I am sure there will be many things that will have to be discussed but I feel we should start with questions. First of all, how can you achieve FTL? Our sensors didn't pick up any element zero on your ships and without it, FTL is much slower than what we've detected." The truth was, she was terrified. These new arrivals had been able to travel faster than what Council or Citadel ships were able to manage AND they didn't use the mass relays.

The Nirnian diplomat, Tevos was it? Stepped forward. "I've been given permission to divulge that with you. It works by utilising magicka gems to transport the ship into the Daedric realm of Meridia whereby it's capable of overcoming the traditional restraints of relativity and accelerate beyond the speed of light." He finished to a confused audience. "Magicka gems? Daedric realms? If possible could you explain these to us, we have no idea what these things are?" Turios raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, the Daedric realms are the planes of the Daedra, which are powerful beings that, on numerous occasions, have tried to invade the mortal plane. I'm surprised you haven't encountered them. Meridia is one of these Daedra."

"Planes? It seems you have some interesting branches of science we don't. I'm sure there will be an interesting discussion later. But how can you travel through Meridia's plane then, if she's a daedra? Surely it must be dangerous?" The Citadel's science liaison interjected. "Meridia is, I'm glad to say, one of the benevolent daedra. Therefore she permits us to travel through her realm."  
"But what are these 'magicka gems' then? We have nothing like this, could you explain them?"

"That surprises me that you races have had no contact with any kind magicka or daedra. But to explain, magicka gems are created from pure magicka and are used for higher levels of magic."  
"What!?" Roared the council's representatives in shock. "Hmm, appears to be a primitive series of 'smoke and mirrors surrounding the technology, likely a way to keep existing craftsmen in power. Surprised that such an advanced race could be so oblivious to deception." Mused a Salarian scientist, leading to a few nods around the room. This managed to incense the Nirnian diplomats. Turios stepped towards the scientist menacingly. "I would suggest you reconsider your view before you tick off someone who's allowed to punch civilians. Like my bodyguard over there." He said, hiking a thumb over his shoulder.

"Ambassador! I must order you to desist! Control your temper or leave this chamber. I must admit that he is almost certainly correct. Magic does not exist, this is likely a grand plot of some kind if it isn't a joke." Sparatus boomed out, clearly disbelieving the ambassador's words.

"Well then I suppose we'll be leaving the chamber then. If you disbelieve us about this then trust is impossible. We'll just be finding out the Covenant feels about this then." Turios said in an icy voice, the Nirnians behind him nodding in agreement. They turned and began to walk out.

Tevos couldn't believe her ears. _The Covenant?! They are going to try and fight the Covenant? They'll be wiped out like we were!_ With that in mind she rushed down from podium, ignoring the stares she received. "Wait! You can't attack the Covenant! They'll annihilate you and destroy any of your worlds that they can find!" Turios turned around and replied in a voice that terrified her. "You're too late for that. They've attacked our world and so we're giving them an ultimatum of surrender. If they refuse we go to war."

"But… but you can't fight the Covenant! They're just too strong! We tried to fight them and now the only worlds we have left they can't find! If you provoke them you'll be wiped out."

"Well, then they'll just have to meet the Spartans."

 **Location: Ascendant Justice, Harvest Orbit**

 **Date: 5** **th** **February 2525**

Shipmaster Vul'Drumee watched as his bridge crew went about their duty, nothing out of the ordinary. He'd been stationed in orbit of the alien's world while the Hierarchs prepared the fleets that would blaze across the alien's worlds and cleanse them of the foul taint the aliens had brought. He was sure it was a mistake to leave so few ships guarding the frontier with 'Citadel' space, they hadn't even explored a new relay in years! He would never voice these complaints aloud but he knew he would have run this war a little differently if it had been up to him.

"Sir, I'm detecting unknown signatures in the inner system! Their design style matches that of the alien's ships we encountered earlier!"

Vul stalked behind the crew member's station and looked at the readout. Sure enough, there seemed to be multiple contacts moving towards them, albeit slower than any ship with a functioning eezo drive should be, but they were still approaching them. "All hands to battle stations! Get the fleet into position!" They were planning on giving these whelps a lesson on the power of the Covenant before destroying them.

Sure enough a few minutes later the aliens approached them, but instead of attacking, they broadcast a message to them. "This is Captain Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity, we give you one option and one option only, surrender your forces and abandon this world or we shall wipe you from existence!" Vul nearly laughed at how confident they were, sure that experimental ship had wreaked havoc but that was all it was, an experimental ship. They didn't even have shields! This would be too easy.

However he did feel a slight, strange kind of respect for these aliens, the Council races, with the exception of the Turians, had been weak and unwilling to fight them, they had been only too easy to kill, there was no honour in that. But these new races seemed to be worthy opponents.

"You have the impudence to demand anything of us? The Gods would have you destroyed and we are but the instruments of their will. This is our response." He cut off the viewscreen and opened communication with the fleet. "Begin the cleansing of this world."

Plasma detached from the ships to rain down on the defenceless planet. Eruptions burst across its surface as seas boiled, mountains were vaporized and anything alive died a quick, fiery death.

"Sir what are they doing?" Yelled out an ensign in shock as the planet burned. Captain Thomas Lasky gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "They're sending us a message, they are not to be trifled with. But neither are we."

"What can we do Sir?"

"The only thing we can do. Go to war."

He turned to face his horrified bridge crew. "Get me a line to the fleet." Turning to face the viewscreen he spoke.

"Gentlemen, I have one word for you and one word only. Attack!"

The ships of the Nirnian third fleet flung themselves forward through space, fire and death spewing from their guns.

Well that's the second chapter down. Just to answer Hornet07 I do intend on explaining that soon (In the next chapter or two) so… yeah. Thanks to all those who've followed the story so far and feel free to review!

DaNinja101


	4. Chapter 3

Fin Dovah Junaar

Chapter 3: When Fire Falls from the Sky

 **Disclaimer: I own it. I own it all. I'm also dating Catwoman. If you believe that you're welcome to sue me.**

 **Location: Harvest Orbit, Occupied Nirnian Space**

 **Date: 5** **th** **February 2525**

"You have the impudence to demand anything of us? The Gods would have you destroyed and we are but the instruments of their will. This is our response." Vul'Drumee cut off the viewscreen and opened communication with the fleet. "Begin the cleansing of this world."

Plasma detached from the ships to rain down on the defenceless planet. Eruptions burst across its surface as seas boiled, mountains were vaporized and anything alive died a quick, fiery death.

"Sir what are they doing?" Yelled out an ensign in shock as the planet burned. Captain Thomas Lasky gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "They're sending us a message, they are not to be trifled with. But neither are we."

"What can we do Sir?"

"The only thing we can do. Go to war."

He turned to face his horrified bridge crew. "Get me a line to the fleet." Turning to face the viewscreen he spoke.

"Gentlemen, I have one word for you and one word only. Attack!"

The ships of the Nirnian third fleet flung themselves forward through space, fire and death spewing from their guns.

Caught off guard, as they had been expecting the aliens to summon reinforcements before attacking, the Covenant fleet turned to face the Nirnians leaving the ships that were performing the glassing unguarded and vulnerable.

Both fleet's leaders smiled to themselves, their opponents had left the, albeit not quite perfect, openings they had been looking for. "Fire the MACs! Get me a line to Captain Shepard!" Yelled Lasky.

Captain James Shepard, his long-time friend, appeared on the screen. "Captain, I'm going to give the order for your battlegroup to jump behind the enemy fleet and attack those ships bombarding our world."

"Understood Sir." Lasky noticed Shepard seemed to be a bit tense, but that was probably because he had his wife and newly graduated daughter waiting for him at home. Given the circumstances it was understandable.

"Godspeed Captain."

"Thank you Sir." With that a section of the Nirnian fleet, led by the _UNSC Fires of Oblivion_ broke away and slid into the distinctive portals that marked the use of a plane drive.

"Sir it appears that some enemy ships are retreating!" an ensign yelled. "Excellent, give the order for the fleet to close range and engage." Replied Vul'Drumee. "Sir Enemy contacts behind us! They're going for the glassing ships!" Vul whirled around to look at the tactical display. It showed the ships that had been left behind leaving their positions above the planet to face the new threat.

However it was already too late to save them. He watched in anger as the ships were torn apart by those massive kinetic weapons the aliens used so much. He noted with some small pride however, that his ships gave as good as they got, enemy ships drifting as their vital systems sputtered and died. Despite this however, it was clear the ships where doomed. They were outnumbered by the battlegroup of 70+ ships. He'd left behind a few ships to continue the glassing and hide the fact that most of the fleet would need to help to get any real progress. Glassing an entire planet wasn't easy. Now however those ships were being replaced by clouds of free-floating atoms as enemy fire slammed into them.

The most worrying thing however in his opinion, was the fact they had shields. The advantage he'd been expecting to enjoy was now gone. The enemy shields were strange however, they weren't like the energy shields of his fleet but nor where they like the inferior kinetic barriers the Citadel vermin used. They didn't seem to present until enemy fire was about to impact, then suddenly appeared. They didn't seem to cover the whole ship, but rather appear where they were needed. They also seemed to create a strange flux of energy near the edges, it was as though light was being distorted at the edges by some strange effect. It had a magical, ethereal quality to it that made it seem completely alien in every sense of the word.

However their shield systems, interesting as they were, were not his main priority. Their fleet was getting badly mauled by the alien's volleys and, despite reaping a terrible price for the victory, the Covenant fleet was in danger of being completely wiped out by the aliens.

"Order the retreat."

"P-pardon Shipmaster?" A bridge officer asked incredulously. Disbelief evident. Sangheili almost never chose to retreat, it was far better to die in battle than retreat from it.

"I said, order the retreat. We cannot win this battle as we are, outnumbered without support. If these aliens press the attack, these ships will be needed in the defence."

"Understood Shipmaster."

The fleet began to turn towards the relay, attempting to get close enough to jump back to Covenant space. However, seeing this, the alien ships intensified their fire on the fleeing ships, taking out several. They were now unable to fire back without being left behind by the fleet.

"Turn us around, we're going to cover the fleet's retreat."

"Very well, Shipmaster." The helmsman replied without complaint. It was obvious to see, despite the certain death that awaited them, not one crewmember would run and abandon their comrades to death.

His crew were loyal into the end, even when he was leading them to their deaths. Their sacrifice may not ever be remembered but they did not do this for glory, but rather for their people.

The _Ascendant Justice_ turned towards the alien fleet, moving to cover the fleeing ships, shielding them with its hull.

Almost a minute later as the Covenant fleet left the system, the final rounds slammed into the hull of the _Ascendant Justice_ , destroying it as the reactors failed and blew the ship to Oblivion. It was not without cost however, as the wreckage of several smaller ships attested to. Chief among these was the drifting, shattered wreck of the Stormcloak-Class Heavy cruiser, _UNSC Fires of Oblivion_ with the body of its captain, James Shepard, entombed inside.

 **Location: High Charity, Sanctum of the Hierarchs**

 **Date: 6** **th** **February 2525**

Aboard the massive station known as High Charity, dwarfing even the Citadel in terms of sheer size, deep in the stations heart lay the Sanctum of the Hierarchs. This room was only used when the prophets wanted to convene to discuss matters of great importance to the Covenant. Currently they were discussing the disturbing news that the fleet led by Vul'Drumee had returned, led not by Vul'Drumee but by his second in command, Kyhra Vulree.

According to Khyra, Vul'Drumee had been unwilling to fight the aliens they had encountered, despite the fact they had huge stores of Forerunner artefacts on their world. Eventually the "heroic" Khyra had persuaded the "cowardly" Fleetmaster to launch an attack. The attack had apparently been a complete success, there being no military units on the ground and merely some civilian militias. After the inhabitants had been exterminated, teams were deployed to search for the artefacts the luminary had detected. Strangely though, the artefacts had disappeared from the luminary's range.

He suspected this mean those vile heretics had destroyed them to deny them to the invaders, but Vul'Drumee had been unwilling to listen to reason.

It all started to go wrong though when the aliens had shown up in a large fleet with what were obviously larger ships than the Covenant was used to. Typically, while the citadel vermin had one supercarrier-sized warship, _The Destiny Ascension_ , the Covenant fielded several, however these aliens not only seemed to forsake the relays in favour of their strange type of FTL, but also seemed to build ships larger than any other known race would consider practical. The total number of ships that were supercarrier-sized in the enemy fleet was staggering, nearly a quarter of the entire Covenant navy would be needed to defeat the massive golden ships.

As the enemy fleet arrived the Fleetmaster managed to redeem himself by glassing the vermin's world. Unfortunately shortly after, the enemy fleet attacked and succeeded in destroying nearly half the fleet, although not without casualties. In a final act of cowardice the Fleetmaster ordered the retreat. His ship was destroyed shortly afterwards.

"This is worrying news, we must organise a defence immediately." Commented the Prophet of Regret. "Agreed, we should recall all fleets performing non-essential duties." Added the Prophet of Mercy.

"In that case recall the fleets." Truth commanded his aide. "A great Crusade is about to begin"

 **Location: Relay 343, Edge of Covenant Space**

 **Date: 6** **th** **February 2525**

Fleetmaster Thel'Vadamee was not having a good day. First of all he had been ordered to lead this fleet into a new relay. That in itself was unusual.

A millennium ago they had been activating every relay they could find in the hopes of finding forerunner relics. Then they had found the Parasite. That had been a long and bloody war that had devastated the Covenant. Now they only ever opened a relay with fleets that had enough guns to glass a solar system. This was the first time since the Covenant-Citadel war had begun that they were able to muster enough ships to do so. Normally they used navigation data stolen from the vermin's ships but more often than they wiped the data from the ship's computers. Hence them opening a new relay in the hopes of finding the vermin's systems.

In theory this was an honourable posting, but Thel knew that the odds of them actually finding something were miniscule. Second on his list of things that were ruining his day was the rumours that were abounding among the fleet. Something about a ship full of Jackal privateers finding a new alien species. According to the rumours the follow-up fleet had subsequently attacked, glassed the planet and been destroyed shortly after. This did not bode well for the war. To compound that he had just been ordered to return to High Charity with his fleet for a new posting. No doubt to the systems bordering the aliens.

It seemed the Covenant was not having good day either.

And I'm alive believe it or not! I'm really sorry for the short chapter and long update time, but I've got exams right now so… yeah. I'll try to update as soon as possible but I'm not making any promises. In the meantime please review!

DaNinja101


End file.
